The Wildlife of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a biodiverse country with 215 amphibian species, 895 birds, 1151 fish, 252 mammals, and 269 reptiles. This ranks as the 27th most biodiverse country in the world (Brazil has the highest overall biodiversity index). Yet, Brazil is 167 times larger than Costa Rica. When land area is taken into account, Costa Rica […]

New Underwater Camera Setup

This week I received my eagerly awaited new underwater camera equipment. After first setting everything up on land, the following day I headed to Ichetucknee Springs to test it out underwater. This post details my new setup and its performance in the field. Prior to getting my new setup, all my underwater photography and video […]

North America’s ancient freshwater fishes deserve respect

On a foggy January morning I walked a riverbank in north central Florida, with telephoto lens around my neck and fishing pole in hand. I stopped to photograph a river otter as it bobbed and weaved amongst the riparian structure, hunting for fish. Herons lining the bank occasionally squawked, protesting my presence. It was the […]

Bison and wild horses in Florida

There is a place in Florida where wild American Bison and horses roam free. This place is Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, a 23,000 acre seasonally flooded prairie just outside Gainesville. Here, I have had numerous encounters with wild horses, but until recently the Bison offered only glimpses at great distance. But that changed this […]

NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

The Natural History Museum (NHM) in London holds a prestigious annual wildlife photography contest aptly named the ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition’. It is currently in its 62nd year. You can enter a maximum of 25 photos in one of 13 different categories. Across all categories, 100 photos are selected as finalists. I entered […]

The aquatic ecosystem of an abandoned swimming pool

In late April of this year, I found a Florida softshell turtle trapped in an abandoned outdoor swimming pool. In a previous post, I recount how I drained the pool, captured the turtle, and returned it to the nearby lake from which it came. This pool is part of a shuttered hotel, and is near […]

The distinctive white-eye fish

The white-eye fish (Oxyzygonectes dovii) has distinctive white eyes which are fluorescent in appearance. They tend to swim just below the water surface in open estuary habitat. This combination of features make them very easy to spot, despite their small size. I recently witnessed this firsthand. While sitting on a balcony overlooking an estuary in […]

La Chua Trail

A persistent dilemma for the traveler is whether to visit some place new or return to a place you have visited before and like. Of course, different individuals weigh these options differently. At a broad scale, two extremes could be: visiting the same place for vacation every year, versus always visiting someplace new. On an […]

Water birds in close proximity to alligators

In Florida, I frequently see water birds in close proximity to alligators. We can define ‘close proximity’ as less than one alligator body length away. I find this curious, as alligators do occasionally eat birds. So why aren’t birds more wary of alligators? I know I am not the only one who finds this situation […]

Alligator Diet Observations

The question of what alligators eat has mostly been addressed through stomach content analysis. A sample of dead alligators, often harvested by hunters, have their stomachs opened, and all the prey items contained within are identified. Another approach involves capturing live alligators and removing their stomach contents through pumping or the Hose-Heimlich technique. This avoids […]